BELOW are excerpts of viewpoints from two selected research houses on what investors can expect in the day ahead:
Inter-Pacific Research
The FBM KLCI ended last Friday with a gain of 3.8 points, regaining some traction following the selling a day earlier.
The recovery was ahead of the trade negotiations between the US and China over the weekend with energy stocks emerging as the session’s biggest winner after oil prices gained some 3.0% on hopes that the easing trade disputes would improve demand.
Nevertheless, market breadth marginally negative even as most broader market indices headed higher.
With the trade dispute between the US and China finding some reprieve for the next three months where both countries agreed to lower their reciprocal tariffs on each other over the above period, there could be further near-term gains on Bursa Malaysia as it plays catch up to the gains among many key global indices on Monday.
This may even allow the key index to breach the psychological 1,550 level as market players cheer the temporary reprieve to the trade dispute that has weigh on market sentiments over the past six weeks.
Market sentiments are likely to continue improving and with foreign institutions likely to remain net buyers, it will be conducive for the FBM KLCI to continue its recovery even as stock valuations are near their historical forward averages.
Apart from the 1,550 resistance, the other resistances are at the 1,555-1,558 levels and at 1,568 points. The supports, meanwhile, are at 1,541-1,543 levels, followed by the 1,536 level.
Malacca Securities Research
Following the 90-day rollback in US-China tariffs, positive sentiment is expected to spill over into the local and regional markets, especially the tech sector.
Meanwhile, as Tenaga Nasional Bhd doubles its budgeted capex to RM42.9 bil to support renewable energy (RE) and the National Energy Transition Roadmap (NETR) infrastructure development, we maintain our positive stance on RE, data centres and construction players.
Lastly, we believe trading opportunities will persist in counters like Lotte Chemical Titan Holding Bhd, Samchem Holdings Bhd and SCGM Bhd following Malaysia’s five-year imposition of anti-dumping duties on synthetic polymer (PET) from Indonesia and China starting May 7.
PET is a key material in the textile, packaging and manufacturing industries.
The key index closed above both the EMA20 and EMA60 with technical indicators showing positive signals. The MACD histogram continued to trade in the positive territory while the RSI is trending upward above 50.
Resistance is anticipated around 1,561-1,566 while support is located at 1,526–1,531. – May 13, 2025
